Stress-Mediated Mechanisms of Invasive Weeds: Biotic and Abiotic Drivers of Invasion Success

Invasive weeds pose significant ecological and agricultural challenges worldwide, yet the mechanistic basis of their success in stressful environments remains insufficiently researched. Increasing evidence suggests that invasion success is strongly mediated by plant responses to biotic and abiotic stressors, particularly herbivory and heavy metal contamination. Under such conditions, invasive plants often gain a competitive advantage through enhanced phenotypic plasticity, rapid adaptive evolution, and superior tolerance to chemical and physiological stresses, leading to shifts in community structure, loss of native biodiversity, and disruption of ecosystem functioning.This Research Topic focuses on elucidating the mechanisms governing invasive–native plant interactions in polluted and stress-prone environments. We aim to synthesize recent advances showing how environmental stress modifies competitive hierarchies, facilitative interactions, and coexistence dynamics between invasive and native plant populations. Particular emphasis is placed on disentangling the roles of stress-induced physiological responses, resource-use strategies, allelopathy, and adaptive trade-offs that enable invasive plants to outperform native species under environmental stress.We welcome contributions employing comparative and integrative approaches—contrasting invasive plants with native or congeneric species to uncover stress-mediated invasion mechanisms across multiple biological scales. Topics of interest include genetic and epigenetic adaptations, shifts in functional traits, plant–soil and plant–microbe interactions, and the influence of polluted rhizospheres on invasion outcomes. Studies exploring how native plant resistance or vulnerability is shaped by pollution-driven stress are especially welcome. We also encourage studies investigating heavy metal tolerance, accumulation, and detoxification mechanisms and their ecological consequences in contaminated habitats. Particular attention will be given to the Elemental Defense Hypothesis and whether metal accumulation functions as a defensive strategy against herbivores.Scope of the Research Topic:This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, and meta-analyses addressing the ecological and physiological mechanisms driving invasive weed success under biotic and abiotic stress conditions, particularly herbivory and heavy metal contamination. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following aspects:• Plant–herbivore interactions in the context of the Enemy Release Hypothesis• Altered herbivore pressure between native and invaded ranges• Defense allocation strategies and growth–defense trade-offs• Induced resistance, tolerance mechanisms, and overcompensation responses• Heavy metal uptake, sequestration, detoxification, and hyperaccumulation• Ecological consequences of metal accumulation in contaminated habitats• Evaluation of the Elemental Defense Hypothesis in invasive species• Interactions between metal accumulation and herbivory• Rhizosphere modification and plant–soil feedbacks under environmental stress• Phenotypic plasticity in mediating stress tolerance and competitive advantage.• Coordinated above- and below-ground trait responses• Resource-use efficiency and competitive dynamics in stressful environments Topic editors: Jianfan Sun, Jibiao Fan, Nina Sajna Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81896/stress-mediated-mechanisms-of-invasive-weeds-biotic-and-abiotic-drivers-of-invasion-success